In the Heart of the Beat: The Poetry of Hip Hop

The world of Hip Hop and Rap is in constant motion and consequently, impressions and thoughts about its meaning, power, and dimension are perpetually challenged. Somewhere someone is bemoaning the negative impact of Rap music on American or African American culture. In In the Heart of the Beat author Alexs Pate suggests we accept there will always be controversy around Rap.

One afternoon during his time as a writer in residence at a Minnesota high school, Pate listened to a white teenager sing aloud with his blaring walkman to Run-D.M.C.'s "Proud to be Black." Inspired by that event, Pate articulates a way of "reading" rap that makes both its contemporary and historical literary value visible-a way of "reading" rap that encourages the reader to step beyond the dominance of the beat and to see rap's many dimensions. Focusing on works by select rappers, Pate reveals the genius of many of the poems and ends his discourse with an anthology of some of the best works.

CONTENIDO:

Praise an Shouts
Preface and DISclaimas
Permissions
Rewind

1.- Say What?
2.- A Matter of Life: A Brief Discussion
3.- From the Streets: Coloring the Multicultural Black
4.- Defining Rap/Poetry
5.- Where You From? Local, Young, and Uncensored
6.- Toward a Critical Reading of Rap/Poetry
7.- The Elements of Rap/Poetry
Saturation
Language:
- Profanity
- That N Word
- Gender Issues
- Imagery
- Texture
- Meaning
- Structure, Form, and Rhythm
- Flow
8.- The Aesthetics: A Summary
Outro: The Professor Revisited

Appendix: The Thematic Categories of Rap/Poetry
Index